Artemisia dracunculus (Linear-Leaved Wormwood) - photos and description
Origin: Native.
General: Plants with stems decumbent to erect and red in colour, stems superficially appear woody (although they are not). Plants glabrous, leaves have a slight sage smell when bruised.
Flowers: Flowers discoid, are yellowish-purple in colour, and grow in leafy panicles. Flowers hang downwards. We measured an inflorescence at 22 cm long, and a flower at 3 mm long.
Leaves: Leaves alternate, in star-shaped clusters along the stem, leaves linear, entire. We measured a long leaf at 23 mm long by 1.5 mm wide.
Height: Height listed in Budd's Flora to 100 cm. We measured plants to 66 cm tall.
Habitat: Dry prairies in southern Saskatchewan.
Abundance: Listed as common, has been uncommon in our experience, we've only seen this plant in a couple of locations.
Similar species: This plant might be mistaken for
Artemisia campestris
and Artemisia biennis.
- Artemisia dracunculus has leaves that are not divided, and
the plant is glabrous.
- Artemisia campestris has leaves that are divided, and the
plant is pubescent.
- Artemisa biennis has leaves that are divided.
When and where photographed: Above photos taken August 12th, dry prairie benchland in the Big Muddy, about 200 km south of our home in Regina, SK.
Photographer's note: Trying to get this plant visible in the foreground against a green grass background is really difficult. A better strategy, an ideal situation, would be to try to photograph this plant on the crest of a hill (photographer situated downhill, shooting uphill) so you would have blue sky as the background.